# Abner (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/abner/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “father of light”, “father”, “light” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈæb.nɚ/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Ab |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 9,454 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 9,454 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 84, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Hebrew אבנר (Abner, “father of light”). From אָב (av, “father”) + נור (nur, “light”).

## What it means

Abner is grouped under father and light.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 166 | 1,108 |
| 2012 | 157 | 1,161 |
| 2013 | 195 | 1,005 |
| 2014 | 202 | 1,012 |
| 2015 | 199 | 1,019 |
| 2016 | 201 | 1,011 |
| 2017 | 195 | 1,029 |
| 2018 | 203 | 1,016 |
| 2019 | 183 | 1,091 |
| 2020 | 219 | 976 |
| 2021 | 215 | 1,023 |
| 2022 | 191 | 1,113 |
| 2023 | 221 | 997 |
| 2024 | 293 | 838 |
| 2025 | 274 | 874 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 4 | 3,208 |
| 2009 | 4 | 3,744 |
| 2013 | 7 | 2,660 |
| 2016 | 8 | 2,556 |
| 2017 | 6 | 3,040 |
| 2018 | 7 | 2,693 |
| 2019 | 5 | 3,411 |
| 2020 | 3 | 4,608 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,451 |
| 2022 | 3 | 4,789 |
| 2023 | 8 | 2,546 |
| 2024 | 9 | 2,443 |
| 2025 | 15 | 1,705 |

## People named Abner

- Abner Vinícius, Brazilian footballer (born 2000)
- Abner Felipe Souza de Almeida, Brazilian footballer
- Abner Biberman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (1909–1977)
- Abner Teixeira, Brazilian boxer
- Abner Lacock, American politician (1770–1837)
- Abner Mikva, American politician, jurist and law professor (1926–2016)
- Abner Dalrymple, American baseball player (1857-1939)
- Abner Zwillman, American mob boss
- Abner Shimony, American physicist and philosopher of science (1928-2015)
- Abner Coburn, American politician (1803-1885)
- Arnold Newman, American photographer (1918–2006)
- A. Linwood Holton, Jr., American politician (1923–2021)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.